Life Sciences companies must re-invent themselves in the face of growing market pressures. Hurdles to profitable innovation are growing; legacy research models are not suited to the rapid evolution of the science supporting drug discovery. This changing science, coupled with stringent regulatory standards and payor standards, is causing the return on research investments to diminish.

After decades of strong growth and high margins, the pharmaceutical industry is facing an irreversible loss of market capitalization as it confronts the limits of its traditional business model. This can be seen in the declining R&D productivity of the companies and the growing adoption of price and volume restrictions globally. The medical device industry, on the other hand, has seen an increase in total shareholder value; however, they are facing heavier regulatory burdens which they are not use to dealing with. These companies need to innovate product pipelines, address patent expirations and possibly move to Generics to capture growth in specialty and biopharmaceutical drugs.

For many of our clients, this means renewed strategic focus on hiring talent that fits their culture and goals. For others it means changing their talent population to allow growth into related businesses and product areas. All must find new and better ways to extract value in mature markets and enter current and future growth markets.

These realities drive a need to recruit and develop leaders who can operate decisively in times when the rules of the game are changing. These are leaders with experiences from other settings, bound less by tradition, and free to set a new direction and develop new ways of operating.